Home
by Bookninja15
Summary: The desire to see him again, even if he'd forgotten about her, was too great to ignore. She needed to find him again. To know that he was okay and they hadn't tried to hurt him along with her. Sydrian Oneshot. Sort of fluffy.


**Disclaimer: I don't own bloodlines or any characters associated with it. **

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Home

Sydney didn't know how long she'd been walking; it could have been days for all she knew. Her feet hurt and she could feel her skin burning in the heat, but she didn't care.

All she knew was she had to get as far away from _them_ as possible. She'd been alone and scared and they'd taken her, tried to warp her mind, to 'reset' it and give her 'a better view of the world' in the name of cleansing the friendship and love she felt for the vampires.

Sometimes it was hard to tell if she hated the vampires or not. Sometimes she could feel her determination fading and she nearly turned back many times, but she didn't give up.

There was one thing that kept her focused and that was _him_, the smile on his face and the way he'd loved her so. She desperately tried to hold onto that, even if she felt it slipping away from her.

Sydney had little idea what they'd done to her in the re-education facility and she wasn't sure she wanted to know. She could only remember bits of it (needles and cages and a sense of fear greater than anything she'd ever known), things she felt better to shut out.

She wasn't going to let them win, not when she had people to get back to, people that cared for her, people _she_ cared for. The Alchemists would be watching her, looking out for her to appear again, but she wasn't going to let that happen.

She'd spent this long avoiding them, running though forests and deserts alike, trying to keep as hidden as possible. She wasn't going to let them drag her back to hell. She wasn't going to let them turn her into a dead-eyed slave.

Oh, they'd tried their best and there were moments when she felt herself giving in, but then some part of her would remember Adrian and she would come back to the world.

The desire to see him again, even if he'd forgotten about her, was too great to ignore. She needed to find him again. To know that he was okay and they hadn't tried to hurt him along with her.

She wouldn't have put it past them to try and find him, to hurt him worse than they'd hurt her, but she had to believe he was okay. He was Adrian Ivashkov, a royal Moroi and she had to believe they'd protect their own.

Still, she walked on; there was hope inside her that the one lead she had would get her back home, to him.

**o0o**

Maybe it was days or weeks later, but she arrived at the location she'd been given. Her legs felt weak and she struggled to stand up properly, but she kept moving.

This had to be the place. This was where she was going to find him.

Carefully, she knocked on the door. There was no reply, but she was determined to wait this out. Every instinct told her this was the place.

She collapsed at the door, too tired to keep on standing. She didn't want to sleep yet, not when there was the possibility of seeing him.

Sydney began to wish she hadn't been so careless, that she'd have been smarter about keeping their relationship a secret. It was reckless for them to be out so much and act so close. Maybe if she'd just—

"Sydney?" a voice said and she looked up to see him, standing there, real as anything. She wanted to reach out and touch him, to have him hold her like before, but she didn't know who he was now or if he still loved her.

"It's me," she tried to say, but all that came out was a dry croaking sound. Tears welled in her eyes, but she didn't want to cry, not now when she felt already so weak and pathetic.

Wordlessly, he stepped toward her, but there was something hesitant about it, as if her were afraid she'd vanish into thin air.

"After all this time...I dreamed…but I never thought," he said and reached out to touch her cheek. She leant into that touch and tried to quell the voice telling her to run. She wasn't going to leave now, not when she'd found him again.

**o0o**

Adrian couldn't quite believe she was here, Sydney had come back. When she'd left, there had been nothing. No sign of struggle or hasty retreat, only an empty dorm room and a note saying she'd been reassigned.

He'd searched far and wide, but then a month later he'd found an article telling of her death, a freak accident at a train station. A mugger had apparently got the best of her and she'd died at the scene. He didn't believe it at first, but it was all over the human news prompting people into having more reform in security at train stations.

But yet here she was, against all odds, in his arms. She didn't look too good and she felt too light, something that worried him more than the blistering sunburn. He could clearly see her bones under her skin, which was worse than he'd seen her before. She looked so fragile, like she'd break at one touch.

There was so much he wanted to ask her, but in her exhausted state, it didn't feel right to bombard her with questions. He could be patient.

He placed her gently on his bed, but when he tried to leave her to sleep she gripped his wrist tightly (tighter than he would have thought she'd have been capable of) and croaked out a 'stay'.

"Sure thing, Sage," he said softly and sat down beside her. Eventually, she fell asleep, but he couldn't bring himself to leave her. Not after she'd been gone for so long.

He wondered what the Alchemists had done to her, why she was so weak and just _drained_ of life. In that moment, he felt an almost uncontrollable rage towards them, for trying to ruin Sydney Sage. He looked down at her again, trying to focus on the fact that she'd come back, that she was _here_ and things could be okay.

He had to believe it, because otherwise, there was nothing.

**o0o**

Even though she was sunburnt to the point of blisters, Sydney better than she had in weeks when she woke up. For a moment she didn't understand the feeling, not until she turned her head to the side and saw Adrian there.

He looked strangely peaceful sleeping, which bought a smile to her face. Just being able to see these things made her happy. It made the harsh journey here worth every step.

When his eyes finally opened, he looked over at her and smiled. "Morning, Sage," he said softly. For a crazy moment, she wondered if he'd kiss her, but it didn't come. Instead he got up out of bed and helped her up.

"Come on, I'll make some breakfast and try to get that sunburn sorted out, then we can talk," he said softly, carefully watching her reaction.

Sydney tried to remain happy, but the implication of magic still set of a strange bad feeling in her chest that she couldn't shake. _It's fine. He's not going to hurt me. He would never_, she told herself in an attempt to take her mind off it.

True to his word, there was breakfast, although it was just cereal and some halfhearted toast. "My cooking skills aren't the best," he said by way of apology. She didn't really care; after months of barely eating anything, food was food.

Adrian didn't say much after that, just waited as she tried to chew her way through a piece of toast (which truthfully was more like warmed bread than anything).

"So…you were gone," he said after a long moment of silence.

Sydney tried to swallow before talking, carefully thinking about her words. "I was…they took me," she said softly, trying to ignore how rusty her voice sounded.

"I suspected…but we couldn't find anything," he said.

"They're very careful," she continued, wanting him to know everything she could tell him. "They knew you'd try, so they made sure no one could find me. Even I didn't know where I was."

"What did they do to you?" he asked.

"They…I don't really know. I don't really remember much, but they tried to make me forget you, to hate you all. I couldn't…I nearly let them."

"They couldn't have done that to you, Sage. You're too strong for that," he said, looking her in the eye.

"But I nearly let them…sometimes even I don't know anything, sometimes it's like back before I met you all, when I hated vampires."

"It's alright," he said. "We'll get through this."

She just nodded, too unsure of how to speak.

"You should know, they tried to make it look like you died," Adrian said carefully. "That's why I gave up, in the end."

He looked so haunted in that moment that it broke her heart to see him like that. She placed her hand on his. Words evaded her, but she hoped the meaning could be conveyed in that single touch.

Adrian looked up at her and gave her a small smile. "I'm glad you're here now, though."

_But where do we go from here?_ She wanted to ask him that question, but she wasn't sure how. Sydney wanted things to go back to how they were, but she had no idea if he wanted that.

He studied her face for a long moment and she felt like he could read her mind. That was always how it was with him and it wasn't always unwelcome. She liked how he really _understood _her, knew who she was and what she needed. It was more than she could say for most people in her life.

"They're going to try and find me," she whispered.

"And we'll figure something out," he said. "I'm not going to let them drag you back there."

"Thank you," she said and leant against him. "I know I don't really deserve to—"

"Sage," he said cutting her off. "You _absolutely _deserve this. You've just walked out of hell to get here and I'm not going to let you go back. Not ever. I don't care how hard it's going to be, but I'm going to try. It's worth it."

The look in his eyes was so serious she didn't try to argue. "I just didn't know if you'd even really…care anymore. I mean I was gone so long…"

"Sage, I haven't stopped caring. Not really. I mean this is kind of strange, you just showing up out of nowhere, but I don't care. I'm just glad you're here, alive. I thought I wasn't going to be allowed to care, because you were dead. But you're not and now it's just kind of…surprising. I'll be here for you, if you want me to because that's what we've always done and I don't see why we should have to stop."

Sydney was too stunned to say anything. There was a tiny part of her brain with alarm bells ringing, telling her she shouldn't be here, not with a vampire, but she did her best to ignore it. She wasn't going to let them win.

"Should I have said that? I mean it might have been too much now…"

"No, it's alright. I needed to hear that," she said and got up off her chair to hug him properly. Her legs were still sore as hell, but that didn't matter. Not when she was with him.

Adrian didn't say anything else, but instead softly kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes and smiled, enjoying the sensation of being so close to him.

Maybe things were going to be okay.

**o0o**

Day by day, week by week, Adrian Ivashkov watched as Sydney Sage slowly became herself again. It wasn't an easy process, not by a long shot, but it was something.

He noticed it in the little things, how her ribs weren't as prominent and her face less gaunt. How she smiled and it reached her eyes.

Adrian knew she wasn't the same as she was, not by a long shot, but she became better than the weak and broken girl who showed up on his doorstep.

She kept him sane too, helping him through Spirit's darker moments and did all she could to make sure he didn't lose it.

But the best part was just having her back, having Sydney sage back in his life. He'd forgotten how much he missed her kissing him softly on the cheek when she went to bed or how it felt to _really_ be with her.

The world had become something worth it again and loving her wasn't just a 'waste' as people tried to call it. They'd told him to move on, but he couldn't. He didn't see the point. No one else in the world could have understood him like Sydney Sage had.

But against all odds, she was here. And with that, things could be better than just 'okay.'

**o0o**

**A/N: Well in other news I made a fanfic that actually had something of an end. So yeah, hope you enjoyed this little semi-fluffy thing. I know there's not much kissing or whatever, but I didn't feel like I could really work that in. **

**Also I kinda wanted to do a different take on the re-education come back thing. I mean most of the ones I've read just have him coming for her and I kinda wanted to see how it'd be different if she came back for him and the life she really believed in.**

**I mean I'd like to imagine Sydney would be stronger than anything the alchemists tried to throw at her, but not completely. Like I'd imagine with her, there would be a lot of trauma. **

**(Sorry I'm babbling; I'll stop). **

**So do let me know what you think of it in a review or something. That'd be cool. **

**~Bookninja15**


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